Island Secrets Ch. 01

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Summer entertainment for some, Summer job for others.
3.4k words
4.19
17.9k
8

Part 1 of the 5 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 08/08/2014
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The Island Saga Series

Book One - Island Secrets - What could a poor, underprivileged girl and a rich over privileged boy have in common?

This is the beginning of a series and as such has no sex. Characters and backgrounds are being established. Please read and enjoy. I would appreciate your comments and encouragement for the subsequent chapters as the series unfolds as well. Happy reading and I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Island Chica

*****

Chapter one - Summer entertainment for some, Summer job for others...

1980, Montego Bay, Jamaica

Sharon Bailey tugged at the hem of her one good black skirt again. She examined her reflection in the piece of broken glass that passed for a mirror in the tiny room she shared with the older two of her three younger siblings. She smoothed her hair down as much as she could get it and tucked a stray strand back into the complicated roll into which her mass of hair had been pinned. She examined the hairstyle, as much as she could see of it, and was pleased that her handiwork was holding up well. She brushed an imaginary speck of dirt from the collar of the faded pink blouse she wore tucked into the skirt. She used a comb and made her eyebrows as neat as she could before smearing a bit of Vaseline onto her lips to prevent them from drying out.

She took a little coconut oil in the palm of her hand and smeared it sparingly on her exposed knees and calves. There was nothing worse than having skin the shade of rich black coffee such as hers and white kneecaps and ankles due to a lack of moisturizer. She shoved her feet into the pair of black shoes she had been wearing now for the two years she had been in teachers' college. She was hoping that with the money earned from this summer job she would be able to replace it considering that she would have to go out on teaching practice come January. Everyone always put their best foot forward for teaching practice.

She took another look at her reflection. For two years now she had tried in vain to get a summer job. Now that she finally did not have the word 'teen' at the end of her age the various companies to which she usually applied sat up and took notice. It could also have had something to do with her being able to put on her resume that she had completed two years of teachers' college. Sharon had not had life easy but she had become very adept at weathering the storms that invariably came her way. First off the bat was that she was from a single parent family. She had never known her father and no doubt never would considering that her mother was not quite sure which of the many men she had been sleeping with at that point in her life was her sperm donor. Her mother had been just about her age, twenty, when she had gotten pregnant with Sharon.

Now at age forty and three more children later she looked like someone past their prime. Sharon was the darkest child though some balanced it out by saying she was also the prettiest due to her thick,long wavy hair which was always a coveted feature among girls, and attributed her complexion and coloring to her father having some maroon heritage. She had dark hair and eyes to match her smooth dark skin and had the longest lashes ever seen. Her hair, whenever it was pressed out as it was now, gave her the resemblance of a black coolie girl. She had always been bright and, in spite of the family's poverty, had done well in school. She had gone through the primary and secondary system and had managed to sit and pass all her external exams due to the kindness of the tight knit ghetto community in which she lived. But passing examinations were not all.

At age eighteen she was considered an adult and so no one was legally responsible to further her schooling. In stepped a benefactor yet again in the form of the Montego Bay Benevolent Society. It seemed as if every year they gave away a tuition scholarship to a deserving student chosen from a random high school. The lot had fallen on her school the year she graduated and her teachers had selected her. As a result she found herself on her way to the prestigious Mico Teachers' College in the island capital of Kingston to pursue a three year Diploma in Education programme. The scholarship covered the tuition for the three years but she had to find everything else: books, boarding, uniforms, food, and daily expenses.

She examined her slim, neat figure yet again and straightened her shoulders, trying to look beyond the worn clothing. This was her best and it would simply have to make do. She picked up the tiny black handbag into which she had placed the sandwich she had made at breakfast, opting to just have a bit of hot water into which an orange leaf had been steeped to give it some flavor. The sandwich and some water would do for lunch until she came home to whatever meager fare her mother would have been able to forage.

She quietly slipped out of the house, taking care not to disturb the other occupants of the two room dwelling. She walked quickly down the pathway to the main road that would take her to the business district. As she walked she hummed a little tune to herself. The sun had already risen above the horizon and she ensured that she walked on the shaded side of the street. The summer mornings were known to be scorching and she did not want to run the risk of being hot and sweaty when she got to the office. She knew she had a good forty five minute walk and paced herself well. By the time she got to the Kirkland building in which she would be working it was just about eight fifteen: work started at eight thirty.

She walked up the broad front steps, her heart racing with each step. As she pushed open the door the cool air from the central air hit her and she felt as if she had stepped into an oasis in the desert. She took a deep breath, feeling the cool, crisp air enter her lungs. Remembering the instructions she had been given at the orientation session on Friday, she walked over to the information desk.

"Good morning ma'am."

The woman behind the desk took one look at Sharon.

"I'm sorry, all our vacancies for summer jobs have been filled. Maybe you can try again in December." With that she turned to deal with another person. Sharon felt her cheeks burn and thanked her lucky stars that her complexion hid her embarrassment. She stood in the foyer awkwardly for a good five minutes, waiting for the woman to notice her yet again. As the receptionist turned she sniffed as if she had suddenly caught a whiff of something rotten.

"Didn't you hear what I said the first time?"

Sharon spoke quickly.

"I already have a job here. I start today. I was told to ask at the receptionist desk for the directions to the filing room."

The woman gave a start as Sharon spoke. She pursed her lips and knit her brows before reluctantly pointing her in the direction of the elevators.

"Get off at the fifth floor and get your instructions from there."

"Thank you ma'am."

Sharon ran to towards the elevator that was just about to close. Her heart leapt into her throat at the thought that she would have to wait for the next one and that would surely make her late in getting to her station. Inch by painful inch she watched as the doors continued to slide close no matter how fast she ran. Just as she was about to wail in despair a hand shot out and the doors slid open once again. Gratefully she stepped into the cool interior.

"Thank you sir."

"You're welcome. What floor?"

"Fifth please."

She watched as the hand of her savior moved across to punch the console in front of her. Her heart gave a slight lurch as the metal box started to move upwards. Her eyes widened in panic as she placed a nervous hand against the smooth steel wall.

"Nervous?" Her companion drawled, a slight tinge of amusement in his voice.

She let out her breath on a whoosh.

"Just a little bit."

He chuckled softly.

"That was how I was the first time I rode one. I found that it relaxed me to watch the numbers go by. So right now we're at three. I just stared at them until my number lit up then I knew I was free. See now it's at four. Five is next."

He put out his arm just across her body and Sharon frowned. The next thing she knew was that she had grabbed wildly and found his arm to be an anchor as the box lurched to a stop at the fifth floor. The doors slid open smoothly and she turned to thank her companion. She found herself looking way up into a clear, smooth face with a startling pair of grey eyes.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're most welcome. Take care now."

She stepped out of the box on slightly wobbly legs and turned to watch the doors close smoothly behind her. She turned on her heel and walked quickly through the double doors she saw at the end of the corridor. And thus began her first day of work.

***

Matthew Kirkland looked up from the pile of papers he was sifting through as he felt a sticky wad of wet paper hit him behind the ear.

"Michael! Cut it out!" His grey eyes sparked angrily as he looked across the expanse of the office to his younger brother Michael Kirkland. At twenty one years old and two years Matthew's junior, Michael was still as rambunctious as a ten year old.

He stuck his tongue out at his older brother.

"Make me."

Matthew sighed and went back to his task of alphabetizing the invoices in front of him. He knew that Michael could only stand being ignored for so long and no longer before he would stop his antics. He was right. Less than five minutes later there was nothing but silence. He took a peek across the office and saw that Michael had put his head down on the desk in front of him. By the steady rise and fall of his shoulders he could tell that the lazy bum was fast asleep. It was just a little after lunch and so the tendency to grow drowsy was the norm. He had had to pinch himself several times already to stay awake as the Kirkland Marketing logo swam before his eyes. He stood up and stretched his long, lean body. The Kirkland men had been blessed with height and Matthew and Michael were no different. Though the two youngest in a clan of seven they were able to hold their own as far as height was concerned, both measuring in at a towering six feet two inches. They could have been twins as they bore the same aquiline nose which had been inherited from their mother. The piercing dove grey were unusually light, almost white and inherited from their father, Morris Kirkland. All five boys had their father's eyes. The two girls had the light brown belonging to their mother. The girls had not escaped the Kirkland eyes completely as their children had inherited them.

As Matthew sat again he sighed. At twenty three years old he was in his fifth year of medical school. He was a promising young doctor in the making yet here he was filing countless invoices. No wonder Michael was bored! At twenty one he was in his third year of law school and had always been a difficult one to settle down. Matthew sighed yet again as he picked up another sheaf of invoices and began shuffling through them without really seeing them. He was glad it was a Friday as he could not wait for four o'clock to come so he could be on his way home. He loved his family dearly and understood the need to learn the business though he and Michael had other career paths. But this was simply torture. His older brother Maxwell was already a partner in the business so why did they need to be there?

Almost as if he had heard Matthew's thoughts Maxwell Kirkland appeared on command from his office. He was unmistakably a Kirkland. At twenty eight years old he stood at an imposing six feet four inches. He had the same thick black hair that brushed his collar slightly. He was more his father than any of the others as he had escaped the trademark hooked nose from his mother. He also had his father's eyes. As he strode over to his little brother more than one female head in the outer office turned in his direction, but he was oblivious to them all.

"Can you guys please try and keep it down out here? Remember this is a professional office. You're not at home."

"Sorry Max. The noisemaker is no more as you can see." Matthew pointed at the snoozing Michael.

Maxwell rolled his eyes.

"At this rate you guys will never get done and these papers need to be filed. Sometimes I wonder what dad was thinking."

"You and I both know what he was thinking. Keeping us busy and out of trouble until it's time to go back to UWI. Keeping us out of the house so that we don't have a repeat of last summer would have been high on the list as well."

Maxwell grimaced. The Kirklands preferred not to remember the summer of '79 when Michael and that girl had been caught down by the shed at the bottom of their property. It had taken a lot of money to hush up that scandal. The Kirklands were a well respected and established family in Montego Bay and it wouldn't do to have their reputation sullied.

Maxwell sighed as he looked over at his youngest brother who was now snoring softly among the mountains of papers. This did not look good in the office at all and there were already whispers about nepotism. Something would have to be done. This was just the first week of summer and already the problems with Michael had arisen. He wished his father had listened and shipped him off to Aunt Carol in America; Matthew would have worked well on his own. But then again the flip side was that Aunt Carol's was like a palace and they didn't want to give Michael the wrong impression that his loose behavior was rewarded with a luxurious vacation. And so the lot had fallen to Maxwell to keep Michael in check. It was proving to be a trying task. Their father had left for Kingston that morning to take care of some business for the weekend. Michael had been a model worker up until today but the minute he realized that his dad was gone he had started to act out.

Maxwell turned to Matthew who was still shuffling the papers.

"Wake him up and tell him I said to get to work if he doesn't want to work late plus take a taxi home. Call down by filing and have them send up someone to give you guys a hand. I don't care how long it takes, all of this had to be done today."

With that Maxwell turned on his heels and stalked back to his office, his brow in a furrow.

Matthew sighed as he got out of his chair and went over to his brother. He nudged him forcefully and was pleased to see him jump up and stare about him wildly.

"Max wants us to get back to work. You see the trouble you've caused now? Max is mad at us."

Michael sucked his teeth at the thought of his older brother dictating to him. He yawned and stretched wildly before once again taking his seat.

"Like I care what the great Maxwell Alonzo Kirkland thinks. All he wants to do is kiss papa's ass. A kissass. That's what he is."

He snorted in amusement at the joke he had made.

Matthew sighed, shaking his head as he went back to his seat to make the call to the filing room.

***

Sharon looked up as she heard her supervisor call her name. She had just finished alphabetizing the racks in section four and hurried quickly to the front. Today was the end of her first week on the job and so far it had been okay. She had quickly realized not to wear her best or cleanest clothes on the job as the filing room was a dirty, dusty place. She wore dust masks most of the time and by Tuesday had learned to take an extra t-shirt to work in. as she rounded the corner she was a sight to behold. The handkerchief that she had placed around her head to protect her hair was dusty. The dust mask had changed color from being used all week and her hands were black with dirt. The loose t-shirt she wore hung almost to her knees like a minidress. Underneath it all she had on a simple blue blouse that had seen better days as well as a pair of her mother's jeans that she had found as she foraged for possible clothing to wear to work each day.

"Yes Miss Campbell?"

"Oh there you are! I need you to hurry now. Take off all those dusty clothes and clean up yourself. I'm sending you up to the seventh floor to Mr. Kirkland's office. They need some emergency filing and you're the best I've got. Take your things with you as the office may be locked up down here by the time you're done."

Sharon hurried to the bathroom and whipped the t-shirt and handkerchief off in one move. She washed her hands and face carefully, taking care to get under the nails and remove the smudges from her cheeks. She released her hair from the rubber band which she had used to hold it up in a loose bun and the straightened locks and the thick mass tumbled halfway down her back.

Pressing her hair had been a miraculous discovery she had made in the first semester of college as she recalled the nightmares as a child when it came time for her thick, wavy hair to be washed and groomed. She hastily pulled a comb through it, glad that the straightening was holding up. It had one more week to go before it needed to be washed and straightened again. She walked out of the bathroom and headed out of the office. In less than five minutes was pushing open the door to the executive offices of the CEO of Kirkland Marketing. She took a moment to adjust to the blast of cool air before she proceeded to the receptionist's desk.

"Good afternoon. I was sent up by the filing room to do some filing for Mr. Kirkland."

The woman waved her in the general direction she was to take. Sharon found herself wending her way down a corridor which opened up to an outer office in which several people were busy at work. She turned to the first person she saw and asked for Mr. Kirkland. She was pointed over to where three men stood in a corner of the office. As she approached she heard a heated discussion and stood patiently and as inconspicuously as she could. They all seemed to recognize her presence at the same time as three pairs of grey eyes turned in her direction. One of them became faintly tinged with amusement as he recognized his damsel in distress from the elevator.

Sharon gasped as she looked into the eyes of her elevator savior.

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6 Comments
AnonymousAnonymousover 1 year ago

A lovely introduction, I confess I skipped some near the middle with the sleeping brother then went back to read it when I realised where the chapter ended.

There are very roughly 3500 words to a page.

islandchicaislandchicaover 7 years agoAuthor
chapter 3...

... is up and chapter four is half done. Please read and comment and vote!

Thank you!

Islandchica

islandchicaislandchicaover 9 years agoAuthor
Thanks for the encouragement

I have been thinking about this novella for some time now and I'm happy for the positive feedback so far. I'm still trying to get the hang of how many words equals one page here as this is my second submission to the site. I do hope that you will enjoy the rest of the series as it rolls out. Island chica

AnonymousAnonymousover 9 years ago
Great story

Thanks, was very disappointed that it was only one page.

TrixareforkidsTrixareforkidsover 9 years ago
Nice beginning

Definitely has me wanting to see more.

Putting you on my favs list so I don't miss future installments.

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